Everyone knows how hard it is to keep seabirds (particularly the silver gull Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) away from your fish (particularly when there’s also chips on the scene).
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Turns out it’s the same on fishing ships, as South Coast trawler fishers well know – but with much more dire consequences for a much wider range of birds.
It’s often the seabirds who are drawn in by a trawler’s catch, and can end up paying for their hunger with their life.
Now the South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association is calling for two new seabird deterrent devices to be made mandatory on their vessels, after finding they work remarkably well.
The devices have proven successful in keeping seabirds away from the dangers of a trawl vessel, the associations say.
Together with the Great Australian Bight Fishing Industry Association, they have developed new gear that helps reduce interactions with seabirds.
Now plans are in place to roll this technology out across the trawl fleet, in addition to the “pinkies” (towed buoys that push birds away).
A “sprayer” sprays seawater on the area behind a boat, and as the seagulls hate being sprayed, it reduces interactions by 90 per cent, SETFIA said.
A “bird baffler” device created a long curtain of ropes and plastic piping which prevents seabirds from entering the danger zone, reducing interactions by 96 per cent.
SEFTIA now wants the Australian Fisheries Management Authority to mandate the use of at least one device.
Ulladulla trawl fishermen and SETFIA member Tony Lavalle said the pinkies were good but the bafflers worked better. “We will be fitting them as soon as possible,” he said.